Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Today is a beautiful day here in So. California. The weather is perfect! Sunny and warm but not hot.

I couldn't have a picked a better day to go for a hike with my nephew, Jason and his daughter, Trinity.

I thought it would but nice if you came along with us. So come on...it's right this way.

Jason loves to go hiking and he knows some great out of the way places that most people have never heard of. So, I always leave it up to him to take us to some new and exciting place to hike.

Today was no exception. We drove out to Mission Viejo. There is a sports park there. Lots of people everywhere!

But, even though we parked there, that was not where we were headed. We were going to go down into the valley area to the wilderness. Where Mother Nature was waiting for us.

With all the rains we had, there were some great wild flowers in bloom.

We found a trail and followed it. I was happy as it seemed like a nice flat walk. I should have known better though because I knew we were headed down, down, down so there would have to be hills somewhere along our hike.

Parts of the path had trees that provided a pretty arch way to walk under. I have to admit though, I was leery of bugs or spiders dropping down on me as I walked through them.

Some areas were just covered with wild flowers. I wish I brought some cutting shears so I could have gone home with a lovely bouquet of wild flowers. Oh well, I guess it's better I left them for others to enjoy.

Even patches of cactus was blooming.

These bushes had the most lovely bright yellow flowers. This picture doesn't make them that great but in person they were wonderful!

The sky was nice and clear and blue today.

No one was on these trails but us. We never passed or even saw on other person.

These purple flowers were breath taking. I couldn't help but think about what an awesome God we have to give us such beautiful flowers for us to enjoy.

Trinity is such a trooper. She loves to go hiking and was willing to go anywhere her daddy lead her too. Some kids would have been complaining every step of the way. But, not Trinity.

We came across this large area with pretty green leaves and these great bright purple flowers. Mixed in with them were these strange looking pods with spikes. I had no idea what they were.

I thought perhaps they were going to bloom into flowers but all the flowers on this plant were small. So I don't think these large things would be necessary for small flowers.

Do you have any idea what they are?

The trail led us to a stream. My pictures made it look super shallow and small. In person it was deeper and was running at a pretty fast pace.

We talked about crossing over it but then decided against it.

We weren't ready to turn around and head back so we broke away from the mail trail to this smaller path we found.

This is actually a steep hill. I don't know why my picture makes it look like it's nothing. The truth was it was pretty scary to go down. Plus I knew we would have to make it back up on our way back.

We walked around and found another way down to the stream. We walked along the bank until we couldn't go any further.

The sound there was so peaceful. The babbling sound the water made with birds chirping over head made it feel like you were way out in the country and not just a short way from the hustle and bustle of the city life.

We ended going off the trails completely. This was an adventure I wasn't sure about going on. There were spiders everywhere and Jason was telling us about being there once and how he came across different kinds of snakes. One was even a 6 foot rattle snake.

I was kind of scared with each step I took.

Jason started to point out more wild flowers to get my mind off of bugs, snakes and falling down breaking my neck. It didn't work though. I still wasn't thrilled in this area, no matter how pretty it was.

We climbed over fallen branches, around rocks and under hanging trees. We were trying to find our way out and where the trail was again.

We came across a huge spider web and a spider that was giant. I swear I heard him burp after eating the last human that walked by and got captured in his web.

I was so creeped out that I didn't even take a picture.

Then we came across this area of plants that formed something that looked like a camping area. It looked as if some sort of wild life had been sleeping there. I wondered if there were bears in this area. Jason laughed and said "No, but it is the area where two people were last year and a Mountain lion ate one".

Oh great! That made me feel much better. No bears, only killer mountain lions!

Finally, we found the trail again. We headed back. Up, up, up this time. Talk about a good work out!

One last patch of red wild flowers were at the top of the hill to greet us and wish us well on our journey home.

I took this picture from the top. It looks like the area is a flat area but it really isn't. It goes down to the valley where the stream was.

Once up there, I almost wanted to go back down. But, of course I didn't.

I did have a great time. Even though at times I was scared. It was very pretty and I was happy that I got out and got some exercise and stuck to my plan of working out more this week.

I wonder where our next trip will be to explore areas I've never been before.

Yep, looks like home, sugar. We'll be done there the first part of next month to visit our kids. I really need to get my California "fix" for this year. That's good for about a year I'd say. I'm still a California girl by heart.xoxo,Connie

The first picture of two blue flowers... that's Lupine. Looks very similar to the Texas Bluebonnet, only smaller.The prickly thing looks like a cucklebur. You might Google "cucklebur plant" and see what you find.

About Me

When I first started to blog, I had no idea what my blog was going to be about. Since we were in the process of remodeling our house, it gave me the name for my blog.
Now, years later my blog has become more about my life in Orange County CA. Places I go, things I do and stuff I want to share with you.
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